During this sabbatical year, I will be investigating the figure of the guru, as a socially liminal figure who has been understood to be dangerous – and in particular, sexually dangerous. Guru sexuality has historically been a poignant signifier of anti-modern superstition and religious corruption, and as a result, has been disproportionately discussed, critiqued, and regulated by Hindu reformers and British colonist critics alike. Guru criminality - and criminality of New Religious Movements more generally - have also been deep sources of prejudices and stereotyping in the history of the field of study. My book-length project, with a working title of (Dis)Figuring the Guru: Power, Representation, and Discourse in the Archive traces the figure of the liminal, transgressive, nefarious, and sexually dangerous guru through the colonial archive and up through contemporary discursive fields. These discursive fields form the social context from which allegations of sexual abuse in global guru communities emerge.